Fund raising kicks off for maritime center

Port Townsend plans $10.1 million facility

Published 10:00 pm, Wednesday, June 4, 2003

Sailor and mountaineer Jim Whittaker sits yesterday near an artist's rendition of a Northwest Maritime Center proposed for Port Townsend.

Sailor and mountaineer Jim Whittaker sits yesterday near an artist's rendition of a Northwest Maritime Center proposed for Port Townsend.

Photo: / Associated Press

Fund raising kicks off for maritime center

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PORT TOWNSEND -- Grand plans for the Northwest Maritime Center in Port Townsend were unveiled yesterday to kick off fund-raising efforts for the remaining half of the $10.1 million price.

To be built on a two-acre parcel in the town's historic district, the center is scheduled to open in 2005, offering maritime classes, boatbuilding demonstrations, interactive exhibits and environmental programs.

The land has been bought and cleaned up, organizers said, and the $1.2 million dock is expected to be built by year's end.

The center will teach students about rowing, sailing and "the love for this magical planet," said Jim Whittaker, a Port Townsend resident, sailor and the first American atop Mount Everest. He is also the honorary chairman of the fund-raising campaign.

Robison said the plan is to offer all youngsters the opportunity for on-the-water programs.

"We'll be really targeting our efforts to school groups," he said, adding that boating can help kids learn teamwork, gain self-esteem, expand their horizons and learn environmental stewardship.

Organizers foresee the center -- 15 years in the planning -- as a world-class facility to showcase Puget Sound's maritime heritage.

Port Townsend's Wooden Boat Foundation will relocate to the center, gaining more space where it can offer programs year-round that are only given during the annual Wooden Boat Festival, said Chris Kluck, executive director of the foundation. The foundation will have about 40 boats available for educational programs, from 8-foot sailing dinghies to a 60-foot wooden rowing shell.

The center will also include a working pilothouse in a glass lookout tower.

Construction on the center is scheduled to begin next summer, with completion the following summer. It is expected to handle more than 250,000 visitors a year.

Port Townsend was the official port of entry for Puget Sound from 1854 to 1913 and is only one of three Victorian seaports listed on the National Historic Register, organizers said.